Rise Of The Tomb Raider is not lifetime exclusive for Xbox

The situation with Tomb Raider 2 has got even more confusing, as Microsoft confirm the reboot sequel is also coming to Xbox 360.

Considering the strange way the announcement was phrased our initial reaction to the Rise Of The Tomb Raider was that it must be a timed exclusive. But this blog post from developer Crystal Dynamics seemed to confirm that the game was never going to be on anything other than the Xbox One.

But now Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed that the game is coming to Xbox 360 and, more importantly, that the exclusivity has ‘a duration’.

‘I have Tomb Raider shipping next holiday exclusively on Xbox. It is Xbox 360 and Xbox One’, said Spencer to website Eurogamer.

‘Yes, the deal has a duration. I didn’t buy it. I don’t own the franchise,’ he said, when asked how long the exclusivity lasted – but he refused to say how long that duration was.

‘It’s not because I’m trying to be a headfake on anybody. It’s a deal between us and the partner. People ask me how much did we pay. There are certain things I’m just not going to talk about because it’s a business deal between us and them. Obviously the deal does have a duration. I didn’t buy the IP in perpetuity.’

Based on Spencer’s constant repetition of the fact that the game will be exclusive for Christmas 2015 we’d guess that Rise Of The Tomb Raider could appear on other formats as early as Christmas 2016.

We mentioned the furore surrounding Rise Of The Tomb Raider when we interviewed Sony Europe boss Jim Ryan earlier today, and he refused to rule out Sony making a similar deal for other currently multiformat franchises. Although he added that, ‘I don’t see a necessity for it right now’.

He did however confirm that Sony has had ‘no conversations with Square Enix’ over the game, so apparently there was no bidding war for its exclusivity.